A Study of Trait Anhedonia in Non-Clinical Chinese Samples: Evidence from the Chapman Scales for Physical and Social Anhedonia

Raymond C K Chan,Yi Wang,William S Stone,Qing Zhao,Xiaolu Hsi,John Mcgrath,Chao Yan,Marianna Mazza

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0034275

Abstract

BackgroundRecent studies suggest that anhedonia, an inability to experience pleasure, can be measured as an enduring trait in non-clinical samples. In order to examine trait anhedonia in a non-clinical sample, we examined the properties of a range of widely used questionnaires capturing anhedonia.Methods887 young adults were recruited from colleges. All of them were administered a set of checklists, including Chapman Scale for Social Anhedonia (CRSAS) and the Chapman Scale for Physical Anhedonia Scale (CPAS), The Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale(TEPS), and The Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ).ResultsMales showed significantly higher level of physical (F = 5.09, p<0.001) and social (F = 4.38, p<0.005) anhedonia than females. As expected, individuals with schizotypal personality features also demonstrated significantly higher scores of physical (t = 3.81, p<0.001) and social (t = 7.33, p<0.001) trait anhedonia than individuals without SPD features, but no difference on self-report anticipatory and consummatory pleasure experience.ConclusionsConcerning the comparison on each item of physical and social anhedonia, the results indicated that individuals with SPD feature exhibited higher than individuals without SPD features on more items of social anhedonia than physical anhedonia scale. These preliminary findings suggested that trait anhedonia can be identified a non-clinical sample. Exploring the demographic and clinical correlates of trait anhedonia in the general population may provide clues to the pathogenesis of psychotic disorder.

Highlights

Anhedonia, a key symptom of major depression and schizophrenia, is defined as a reduced capacity to experience pleasure in normally pleasurable situations [1]
Based on the Pearson correlations between Chinese version of physical and social anhedonia scales and Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPS), Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire (SPQ), we further examined the type responses on physical and social anhedonia, comparison of the mean score of the social and physical anhedonia were conducted between the schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) and non-SPD groups
Focusing on respondents for each item of physical and social anhedonia scale, we found that the prevalence of having at least one positive item on the physical and social anhedonia scale for the non-clinical sample ranged from 5.4–89.4% and 4.4–58.2%, respectively

Summary

Introduction

A key symptom of major depression and schizophrenia, is defined as a reduced capacity to experience pleasure in normally pleasurable situations [1] It has been assessed with interview-based rating scales and self-report measures. Chapman and colleagues developed the physical and social anhedonia scales in the late 1970s, namely the Physical Anhedonia Scale (PAS) [2] and the Revised Social Anhedonia Scale (RSAS) [3], to measure stable individual differences in the capacity to experience pleasure from physical-sensual and social-interpersonal sources Based on these scales, Fenton and McGlashan found that 76 percent of a schizophrenia sample (n = 187) showed at least mild anhedonia, and 23 percent showed marked or severe anhedonia as assessed by the SANS [4]. In order to examine trait anhedonia in a non-clinical sample, we examined the properties of a range of widely used questionnaires capturing anhedonia

Methods

Results

Conclusion